State Congressional Delegation Divided on Bailout Bill

With the defeat of the financial rescue plan in the U.S. House of Representatives congressional leaders and the Bush Administration were scrambling to come up with a Plan B. Congress is expected to reconvene tomorrow (Wed. Oct. 1) in the hope of recrafting a package.

AGC of America had strongly urged Congress to pass the package. A failure to buttress financial markets will lead to a credit freeze that will cause the cancellation of construction projects bankruptcy of construction firms and unemployment of construction workers said Stephen Sandherr CEO of Associated General Contractors of America.

A revised plan is likely to be voted on this week. AGC members are encouraged to contact their Congressional representatives via the AGC of Americas Legislative Action Center.

From the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports H.R. 3997 the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act because Main Street and Wall Street rely on each other to survive. That is whatever happens on Wall Street has a direct effect on what happens to small medium and large-sized businesses across the country. If there is no liquidity in our financial markets businesses will be unable to grow - plain and simple. A financial rescue package is imperative to our economys growth and Congress needs to act now.

Among the Washington State Congressional Delegation Reps. Baird Dicks Larsen McDermott and Smith voted in favor of the rescue plan; Reps. Hastings Inslee McMorris-Rodgers and Reichert voted against it.

Speaking in favor of the bill Rep. Adam Smith (D-Tacoma) said After listening to many of my constituents small business owners local bankers and many others in the business and financial world I have concluded that this crisis is more serious than just the normal downside of the business cycle; that failure to act by Congress could turn a severe economic slow down into a panic -a run on banks and all financial institutions that could plunge us into a deep and lasting recession; and that the plan before Congress while offering no guarantees represented a prudent and necessary step to prevent this much more painful economic outcome.

Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Auburn) voted against the measure. He said Its more important to get this legislation right than to act in haste. Panic on Wall Street brought us to this point and we cannot let panic in Congress push through a remedy that is worse than the illness. Instead of a $700 billion blank check we need a comprehensive package that helps Wall Street recover with more private capital not taxpayer dollars; that holds accountable the bad actors who contributed to this crisis; and that enforces existing laws while modernizing outdated ones.

For a recap statements made by Washington Representatives both for and against the package click this Seattle Times article.